


Paved With Good Intentions

by Are_Words_Enough



Series: Paved With Good Intentions [1]
Category: DC Animated Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Angst and Romance, Dimension Travel, F/M, M/M, Street-Level Characters, The Enemy of My Enemy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 17:15:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8541850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Are_Words_Enough/pseuds/Are_Words_Enough
Summary: The Joker and Harley on a heist gone wrong, Mercs a plenty, and a Kingpin losing control. With guests from the Streets of Marvel.





	1. Everything Starts Somewhere

The guards had been easy to deal with. Practically handled themselves when they realized who the pair was that was breaking into the museum. Harley neatly tucked a quite literal calling card into the clothes of each of the unconscious guards. She tilted her head as she admired the extended smile her companion gave to each of them. Letting out a short sigh she nearly skipped to catch back up to him.

 

“The boys just checked in,” the words escaped harsh red lips that contrasted the man’s pale complexion, “Bats took the bait. Of course it means they’ll all be arrested by the end of the night, but you win some, you lose some.” He turned to Harley with his usual twisted smile.

 

“Aww, I was hoping to get some more smashing practice.” Harley twisted her hammer, the head of it spinning fast enough to blur.

 

“Puddin’, there will be plenty of chances to pluck the wings off that flying mammal,” The Joker made a grand gesture towards the central exhibit, “Tonight, we’re here for this!” His eyes sparkled with the purple and green of the gemstone, “Can’t finish the plan without it!”

 

“You sure we really need this? Couldn’t we just use that diamond we stole last spring?” Harley squinted at the stone in the exhibit, “This one looks smaller...”

 

“Yes, it may be smaller, but!” The last word was dramatically emphasized, “this one is just my style. Don’t you think?”

 

“I do like the color!” Harley smiled.

 

“Personally, I’m not a fan.” A deep gravelly voice pre-empted a figure stepping out of the darkness. The silhouette made the two swords on his back obvious. As the light finally hit him the simple bi-colored mask became obvious, black on one side and orange on the other. Only a single eye hole that was on the orange side.

 

“Deathy, buddy, pal. Please don’t tell me we’re about to fight over this lovely little gem here.” The Joker crossed his arms and tossed the newcomer a judging glare.

 

“No, I have no interest in the Tear of Tir.” Deathstroke slowly drew one of his swords allowing the sound of it to fill the space, “It seems like someone has it out for a particularly annoying jester.”

 

“Again?” The Joker lifted his cane and pulled his own sword out as the dark figured inched closer to him, “I thought you didn’t like being used to do what the Batman won’t?”

 

“The price on your head is higher than the cutoff for my pride.” The words were cold and even.

 

“I guess we’ll just have to see how easy it is to collect,” The Joker shined light off of his cane-sword flickering it at his new opponent, who seemed to have no reaction to the light at all. He did, however, react to the hammer coming down on him from behind. Rolling to the side, he narrowly avoided the impact which left floorboards cracked and uprooted.

 

“See, told’ya I need more practice!” Harley grunted as she pulled her hammer out of the floor.

 

“Well Puddin’, here’s your chance.” The Joker quickly pulled a long barreled revolver from his belt and fired at Deathstroke who’s dodge sent the mercenary rolling back towards Harley. This time she took a home run swing towards the black and orange figure who kicked out at Harley’s hand and knocked the blow off course. Harley’s body followed with her swing bringing her to the ground.

 

Deathstroke lept from his place on the ground into the air and at the Joker. The jester raised his sword readying to block an attack from the hired assassin. He didn’t anticipate the amount of force that backed the mercenary’s swing. The blow knocked him backwards into the case for the exhibit setting off alarms all around them. 

 

Harley rose to her feet watching to two men fighting amid the loud sirens and flashing lights. As she hefted her hammer she felt a tug towards the middle of the room. The large gemstone seemed to sparkle even more than when they first saw it that night. The world around the two men rippled, shattered, then fell away behind them. Joker and Deathstroke were quickly pulled into the void that was left in its wake. 

 

Harley stood there for a minute that felt like an hour before she decided what she needed to do, “I’m coming Mistah J!” She ran right into the void barely making it through as it snapped shut behind her. She couldn’t see or hear anything as forces pulled at her from all angles. Eventually she dropped out of the nothingness and smashed against what felt like concrete. A second bounce impacting her head and knocking her out cold.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The only sound that could be heard in Avenger’s Tower was the ruffle of the newspaper in Captain America’s hands. With all the other Avenger’s addressing a conflict off-world, Steve was left behind to watch for any concerns on Earth. No threats were currently on the radar so he was seeing if he could find anything upbeat in the local news. Tony had offered him a tablet, but he preferred the feel of the thin paper. He was still getting used to new technology anyway.

 

“Mr. Rogers” an even synthetic voice sounded, “I have something that may require your attention.”

 

“What is it Jarvis?” Cap folded up his paper.

“I have detected a series dimensional anomalies roughly six feet in diameter spread throughout Midtown West. Video feeds have captured images of three individuals in what I think you would call costumes. I have stills for your viewing.” As Jarvis spoke three images materialized in the air. One of a freakish looking individual who appeared smartly dressed in shades of greens and purples, his face a mess of what appeared to be clown makeup, and a slick of dark green hair. The second image was of a man dressed in black with orange accents, a mask that appeared to only allow one eye to see, and two swords crossed on his back. The last image was of a woman lying on the ground in small and tight-fitting clothes, with blonde pigtails, natural ivory skin, and a large mallet, “Police are currently being dispatched to each of the three scenes. Whatever information they recover I’ll relay to you as soon as it’s available.”

 

“Do we know anything about these three?”

 

“While there’s no direct match in the database for any one of them, I have found some comparisons. However these are based solely on the visual aesthetic of each individual.” Images of the Green Goblin, Deadpool, and Menace slide up in that order, “Based on the overall appearance, I don’t think these are what you would refer to as ‘good guys’, Mr. Rogers.”

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna do some groundwork.” Cap started heading out.

 

“Please remember to take the cell phone with you this time, sir. It will make it easier for me to contact you.” As if on cue, the small rectangle on the table lit up and Steve stuffed it into his suit.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

She awoke with an ache she’d felt before. Harley was no stranger to concussions. In fact, this last one swung them back to a majority of ‘not caused by the Joker’ Then the sting of stitches bit into her forehead. As the stars cleared from her vision a very average apartment came into view around her. In the chair in the corner, a woman was slouched, apparently asleep. 

 

Harley tried to reach up and touch the stitches. She always counted them. It had become a habit ever since the first seven the Joker had given her. She considered them lucky, a sign even. As her arm rose above her chest the jagged pain of several bruises sang across her chest in concert. That pain caused a sharp squeal which woke up the other woman.

 

“Hey, hey! Don’t move. You’re going to need some time to recover.” The woman moved from the chair and onto the foot of the bed, “What’s your name anyways? Mine’s Claire.”

 

“Haghleigh.” The word came out raspy, so she tried again, “Harley”

 

“Let me get you some water” Claire got up and left the room. Harley could hear the tap run for a few seconds before har caretaker returned with a glass. 

 

Harley clutched the glass the with both hands. First taking a small sip and letting the moisture soak into the sandiness that was her tongue and throat. After a slow, careful swallow she continued to drink until swallowing seemed to hurt as little as it was going to.

 

“So, Harley,” Claire took the glass back, “that’s an interesting outfit you have there.”

 

“Always did have a unique sense of style.” She looked down at the black and red leather she was wearing with the occasional card suit accent. She turned her gaze back to the woman sitting on the bed, “And you are a...” Harley took another moment, “nurse.”

 

“Yeah, I am.” Claire almost chuckled, “And my recommendation is some more bed rest.”

 

“Thanks for the stitches, hun, but I really got to find someone.” Harley swiveled, having already forgotten the pain just reaching up to touch her forehead had caused. Her whole nervous system fired at once. Every bruise, every scrape, and every new stitch spoke at once. All of that pain, all at once was more than even the skilled psychiatrist could handle. And with that her body echoed Claire’s words as Harley blacked out.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“And tonight at 11, more reports of clowns terrorizing Lower Manhattan.” The remote almost punctured the large HDTV, destroying the screen and bringing it down off its mounting. The final fall splitting it in two.

 

Wilson Fisk almost brought the rage of his fists down on his desk, but the time and effort it had taken to get the kingswood and find a carpenter that could work with it stopped him. Instead he tossed the banker’s lamp the sound of the glass shattering almost quelled his anger. The next thing he heard did bring him some relief. 

 

The phone on his desk buzzed and his personal assistant spoke, “The specialist is here to see you sir. Would you like me to look into replacing any items in your office?”

 

“Go ahead and send him in,” Kingpin paused for a moment, “I’ll give you a list after this meeting. Just in case it gets longer.”

 

“I understand sir, sending in the specialist now.” The voice of Wilson’s assistant sounded eager to be rid of the new company.

 

The door to Mr. Fisk’s office opened and no sooner had it closed then a familiar and annoying voice filled the room, “Kingpin, baby. I thought you had a whole list of special folks working for you. Now you’re paying a mercenary? Can’t argue with the money, but I never took you for a coulrophobe.”

 

“Deadpool...” Wilson wondered for a moment if he had made a mistake, “No, not afraid of clowns. Just having a bit of trouble with one who doesn’t understand how Manhattan works.”

 

“Are you sure? Because he sure seems to be making quite a mess.” Deadpool picked up a statue from Kingpin’s desk, “I mean, you’ve resorted to hiring me. Clown must be making you desperate, big guy.”

 

Fisk’s eyes followed the statue in Deadpool’s grip, “Fine. The clown’s been turning my men. That’s why I’m hiring you. I need two things: Someone who’s morals align with the amount of money on the line and someone who can’t be stopped.”

 

Deadpool tossed the figurine in Kingpin’s general direction, “Well, you did pay the ‘Insult Me To My Face’ fee. Any intel on this joker?”

 

Wilson caught the statue in one hand, “Here,” he picked up a manilla folder that had been sitting on the center of his desk and thrust it towards the merc.

  
As Deadpool walked out with the file in hand, he shouted back, “Just hope your checks are still good by the time I do this guy in.” As he shut the door behind him, Kingpin hurled the figurine. The sound of it sticking in the door with a solid thud was the last piece of their conversation.


	2. The Forgotten Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cap keeps investigating, Deadpool makes a new friend, and Claire continues to take care of Harley

The local police were being very kind to Steve. The Avengers technically didn’t really have jurisdiction here. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t going to get involved in local gang crime unless some kind of super villain was involved. So far the coroner hadn’t found powers to be involved in any of the deaths. Plenty of guns, knives, and bombs, but no powers.

Cap had been doing ground work for a few days now. He was trying to track the newcomers. Two had basically disappeared, both the man in the orange and black suit and the young woman. The ghastly clown, on the other hand, had been very active. It seemed he was already fighting with the local mafia. To create a noticeable presence in just days was rather impressive, but not impossible. 

Steve was walking around the crime scene carefully, waving the screen all over the place. At first Jarvis had asked him to slow down, but after four or five tries he gave up. His interactions with Tony had taught the AI that sometimes it’s better to just accept that the other person might not be willing to listen even if what they’re about to do could cause their entire home to turn into a crater. He just compiled all usable data and informed Cap when he had incidentally gotten him everything he needed. “Thank you, sir. You can put the phone away now while I compile the data.”

As Cap slipped the phone back into his uniform one of the officers approached him. The cop held out a hotdog, which Steve went ahead and took from him, “I hope this is ok Mr. America, I mean Captain,” The officer looked as nervous as he sounded, “Do you think I could take a pic of us? My kid’ll never believe I met you today.”

Cap half chuckled, “Sure thing.” He leaned in while the cop angled his phone to get them both in the shot. Steve held up his hotdog and the cop bumped his own hotdog to it in a ‘toast’. The phone flashed and Cap was relieved when the officer put it away. He didn’t understand why people tended to take 4 and 5 pictures, but he always made sure to let them finish their photos. And he always smiled. 

“Wow! Thank so much! My kid is gonna be proud of his dad today!”

“He should be proud of his dad every day, you’re keeping the city safe.” Steve’s brow furrowed under his suit.

“Cops don’t have as good of a rep these days.” The officer shook his head.

“Look, you do an honest job and you’ll be fine. You’ll make your son proud.”

The cop nodded to himself, “You’re right. Thanks, Captain America!” The officer straightened up, “You need anything else sir?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks for lunch!” Steve took a big bite out of the hot dog as he headed back to the Tower.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wade crouched on the rooftop, watching the exit of the bank. He had followed some tips that Kingpin’s new problem was going to robbing this bank. Whoever this clown was, he was pretty smart. In just days he was already disrupting Kingpin’s hold on the crime scene in this city. Hell *badumpumtiss* (Hell’s Kitchen, get it?), this was one of Kingpin’s banks. 

“So, Pinkie, how long do you think we’ll have to wait for things to get interesting?” Wade turned the little pony figure to face him.

“I don’t know Deadpool, sure is dull. I should have brought my Party Cannon.” Deadpool mimicked her voice.

“That’s OK Pinkie. I brought a real cannon.” Deadpool winked at the pony and loaded the .600 Nitro Express cartridges into his customer ordered Swiss made revolver. “I really hope that one of these guys is wearing a vest. I really wanna see how far the pieces fly.”

“Oh, you’re so funny Deadpool!”

“I know Pinkie,” Wade let out a delighted sigh, “I know.”

“Oh my god, who’s that?”

“Who’s what?”

“That guy sneaking up behind you!”

Deadpool spun around and buried his nose in some costumed abs. “Wll high thrr” Wade’s words were muffled by rack of muscle in his face.

A deep gravelly voice, “A better question is who are you?” The words were followed by the sound of a hammer being pulled back and the feeling of a barrel being pressed against Wade’s head.

“Are you sure you don’t know who I am?” Deadpool quipped, “Because you definitely know how to turn me on.” (Jesus, he should just put it in my mouth already)

“I said, ‘who are you’?” The voice jabbed the barrel of the gun into Wade’s head.

“Don’t make me call Twilight you big bully!” Wade mimicked the pony’s voice again.

The quick silenced sound of gunfire and Deadpool was slumped against Deathstroke’s crotch, “Ugh,” Deathstroke pushed him to the ground, “should have just told me who you were.” Slade noted the manilla folder on the ground and picked it up to leaf through it. There were images of Joker and henchmen and some notes and leads on the Joker’s activity, “I still would have shot you, but you should have told me.” Deathstroke chuckled to himself as he closed the folder and then flicked the little pink pony off the ledge it was resting.

“Oh noooooo!” Wade had come back to life in time to voice Pinkie’s descent into the darkness below. And as quickly as he made that sound, Deathstroke had put another bullet through his skull. This time Slade reached down to check his pulse, satisfied when there wasn’t one. He slipped the manilla folder into his suit and started to walk off.

Sitting cross-legged in front of Slade was Wade, “So, think we could talk without you killing me? It’s bad enough that you killed Pinkie.” Deathstroke fired again, this time Wade twisted to take the shot in the shoulder. Slade saw the wound quickly heal over. 

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, shoot me all you want. I’m still going to come back.” Wade stood up and started to walk over to Deathstroke.

“Apparently.”

“So, what’s your deal with this clown guy? I saw you take my notes.” Deadpool poked the spot in Slade’s suit where he’d hidden the folder, “Missed connection?”

“Excuse me?’ Deathstroke thought about pulling one of his blades.

“Just getting a real ‘daddy’ vibe from you.” Wade slowly dragged a finger down Deathstroke’s chest, “Don’t think I didn’t notice that half-chub when you shot me the first time.” Deadpool took a deep inhale of Slade’s chest. (In case you’re wondering he smells like blood, sex, sweat, and gunpowder) 

“No.”

“Fine, how about we work together then?”

“No.”

“You know you don’t have a choice though, right?”

Slade just let out an exasperated sigh, “Yeah.”

“I’ve always wanted to have my own sidekick.”

“I’m not your sidekick” Deathstroke crouched down and started to watch Kingpin’s bank, realizing there was no way he could rid himself of the immortal abomination. 

“Ok, I can be your sidekick!” Deadpool hugged onto Slade’s large frame.

“Whatever.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harley was starting to fade back into consciousness. She could almost make out a woman’s voice. There didn’t seem to be any other voice. In the back of her head she was already starting to diagnose schizophrenia. As she came back a bit more she realized the voice was kind of familiar, “Joker?” the word came out strained, weak, and raspy.

“Oh, no, honey,” The soft voice was fading into vision, “It’s Claire.” As things came into focus, Harley saw that she was still under Claire’s care, “No Jess, I’m not talking to you.” Claire gently stroked Harley’s hair as she continued to talk on the phone.

Harley tried to sit up, “Nope.” Claire moved her hand to gently hold Harley’s shoulder down, “Still not talking to you Jess. Hold on, give me a second.” Harley could hear the very loud and frustrated sigh from the other end of the phone before Claire set it on the side table.

Harley wheezed out a couple more words, “Water... please...”

“Sure thing,” Claire popped into her small kitchen to get a glass and fill it, “Just take it slow.”

Harley tried to reach up for the cup, but she was still very sore, “Ow.”

“Here,” Claire carefully lowered the rim of the glass to Harley’s lips and helped her take a few small drinks, “Ok, I’ve got to finish this call.” Claire set down the glass and picked up the phone, “Look Jess, you owe me, right?” Claire clearly already knew the answer, “So help me out here, she doesn’t have anyone and,” Claire lowered her voice but Harley could still hear her, “she’s involved with that clown guy who’s been all over the news.” 

Harley realized she had been having a lot of dreams about her Puddin’. She knew shortly into them that they were just dreams though. When the Joker actually cared about her, when his romance didn’t turn out to be just some joke for his henchmen’s sake, when his touch was actually warm and not the frosty disconnection she was so very used to now, she knew. Those were some of the best dreams she had ever had. She was honestly kind of mad now that she was awake.

“So you’ll be by later?” Claire seemed relieved, “Good we need a safer place for sure.” Claire hung up the phone. She looked at Harley and offered her more water, which the psychiatrist accepted a few more slow sips of.

“What was that about?”

“We’re going to find you a safer place.”

“Safer?” Harley realized she had a second question too, “We?”

“Yeah, you clearly need protection. I’m sorry, but I went through your things. I saw your pictures of that pale jester.” Harley was starting to get upset, “Look, I know what abuse looks like and I know what combat wounds look like.”

Harley sighed then remembered her of the second question, “We?”

“Oh, yeah, Jess. She’s a PI that owes me a favor.”

“Favor?” Slowly, “On me?”

“Yes,” Claire affirmed, “On you.”

Harley wasn’t sure how to handle the genuine kindness. She wanted to ask more questions but she was already imposing. She was somewhere strange, could barely move. She decided on just one more question, “What’s next?”

“Jess has a safe place to take you. Once you’re there, we can look into how we can help you. And what to do about that clown.”

Harley was conflicted. Claire was so nice, but she felt like she needed to get back to Mr. J. She tested her movement some more, but it was all pain and soreness. She was going to have to stay with Claire for now. Besides, the effort of moving around had started to make her tired again. Claire checked Harley’s vitals as she started to doze off. Satisfied that she was stable enough, the nurse let her drift back off to sleep.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Joker continues his assault on the Kingpin's empire, Claire brings in Jessica Jones, Steve discovers the world of street level heroes and villains, and Deadpool admires Deathstroke's work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I'm back to actually finish this. Then I'll go back to Lost Boy.

He struggled against his bonds, but there was no hope. Closing his eyes was a temporary escape from the wicked grin that had been inches from his face. That was, up until the demented clown had literally sewn his eyelids to his eyebrows. He was seriously starting to doubt if Kingpin could actually do worse to him. The thing the Kingpin knew that this crazy fuck didn’t was where his wife and daughter lived.

“So, hopefully now we can see eye to eye.” Joker made sure to show the henchman his delighted joy after delivering the rather twisted one-liner, “I’m just asking you to tell me where Kingpin keeps his best toys.”

The man struggled more, getting him nowhere. He tried to scream at his captor. This too was in vain, as his lips had also been sewn together.

“I told you not to yell!” Joker looked down at the large and bloody needle in his hands, “Now you’re going to make me go get more cord. Just remember, we could have been friends.”

It was this point Bullseye had heard enough. The henchman hadn’t revealed any information and he was going to make sure that he never did. A quick silenced shot and the stitched up man was slumped forward in his chair.

Joker turned around having just threaded some more cord through his needle, “Well, I’ve got the best idea on what to do ne--” he paused staring at the man for a moment before noticing blood pouring down the side of the man’s head, “That’s not fair, I was just getting started!”

Bullseye lined up his next shot. The only accessible roof put him at such a severe angle he only had a shot at the Joker’s chest through the window. He took aim for the clown’s heart as the Joker examined the small clean hole in the window. Bullseye fired and the impact of the bullet knocked Joker away from the window. Bullseye headed down to confirm the kill.

He looked inside the window and he only saw the limp corpse of the dead henchman. Fuck. He was going to have chase this stupid clown. Why couldn’t the bastard have just been confident enough to not wear a vest?

Just as he turned away from the window he heard the sound of a metal door opening and then clanging shut just a few feet away. He darted towards it and saw a streak of purple and green cross through the alleyway. This prompted him to gun it full speed after the streak. As he rounded the corner, he was surprised as the clown swung a cane across his face.

The Joker put more distance between the two of them as Bullseye got back to his feet. Bullseye didn’t feel like running after him again. He fired off a couple of quick shots, but the clown moved in such an unnatural way that they missed. They MISSED. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? “BULLSEYE DOESN’T MISS!”

Ok then, Bullseye was done playing games. He dashed full speed after his elusive clown shaped target. Following the sounds of insane cackling, he was determined to put the Joker down. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of a door slam yanked Harley out of what was almost a coma. The traces of the dream where she and the Joker were celebrating their defeat of Batman were fading away. His twisted smile disappeared from the back of her mind as a gruff feminine voice came into focus.

“What’s the deal Claire? She looks like she can take care of herself.” A pale figure with long dark hair accompanied the voice.

“I told you, she has something to do with that crazy clown that’s been all over the news lately.” Claire’s voice was filled with concern.

“So, we take her to a safe place and then what exactly do you want to do?”

“Reach out a bit higher? Matt, Luke, and Danny are all good guys, but I don’t think this clown guy is in the same league. I’m sure you know someone who actually claims to be a superhero.”

“So, you think I have some kind of button I can press that just calls out to the Avengers to come help us?”

“Yes?” Claire couldn’t tell if she was joking.

“No.”

Claire just frowned.

“Fine. I’ll see what I can do.” Jessica sighed, “So, can she walk or do I need to carry her?”

“She hasn’t really been moving around.”

“Alright then.” Jessica grabbed Harley and tossed her over her shoulder. The psychiatrist wasn’t expecting it and apparently her head wasn’t ready for it. Pain swelled and then darkness took her again.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve stared at the black rectangle on the diner table in front of him. He was still having a hard time with the fact that a creature lived inside of it, let alone that creature's abilities. 

“Sir, analysis is complete.” Jarvis’s voice showed as a pattern on the phone’s screen.

“Uh,” Steve was confused about what to say, “hit me.”

“The activity and targets that have been tracked and collected by the police indicate that the ‘jester’ is currently waging a street war with Kingpin.” Jarvis’s tone was as cool as always.

“So, if we can track and learn more about Kingpin then we can find and stop this jester guy.”

“I believe so.”

A waitress arrived at the table and dropped off a burger, fries, and a vanilla milkshake. Steve just smiled and thanked her, appreciating that she didn’t seem to recognize him.

“Well, that gives us a place to start. Do we know anything about this Kingpin guy?”

Jarvis began to project a holographic display of Wilson Fisk. Steve quickly reached out and covered up the phone glancing around to see if any of the people in the diner had seen it already.. “Jarvis, I’m trying to stay low key here.”

“Sorry, sir. I have switched to on-screen display mode only.”

Steve slowly lifted his arm, unsure what to expect. He sighed in relief as he realized that there was now just an image on the once black screen. He turned it so he could see at a better angle. The man on the screen looked massive. “Why haven’t we dealt with this guy before?”

“Wilson Fisk, ‘Kingpin’, is a local crime boss. Generally escapes conviction from the local police force. Street level hero ‘Daredevil’ has been known to challenge and suppress him.”

“Daredevil, tell me more about him.”

“Street level hero Daredevil. Apparently blind. Uses advanced athletics and echolocation. A member of street level team ‘The Defenders’. Other team members include: Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones.”

“Do we have a way to get in touch with any of these people?”

“Scanning” Steve sipped his milkshake as Jarvis went dark, “Contact found. Private Investigator Jessica Jones (212) 555-3822. Would you like me to call it now?”

 

“No, let me finish my food first.”

“Dialing saved in pending actions.” 

Steve was silent as he took a big bite out of his hamburger. He was thinking about what questions he might ask. He looked out the window at the city beyond, shrugged and shook his head.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wade watched from the rafters as Deathstroke checked the restraints. In pursuit of the clown, the mercenary had come across another person going after the bounty. They called themselves Paladin, but there was no armor, no shield, and certainly no holy magic. Deadpool couldn’t fathom what this guy was even thinking with that name.

Regardless, he didn’t have anything that was going to help him now. Deadpool rested his chin in his hands and kicked his back legs as he watched Deathstroke work.

The way he asked questions, his slow methodical torture methods, and his sheer determination had the merc with a mouth swooning. He’d been trailing Deathstroke for a few days now, completely enthralled by his methods and air of mystery. It was like the guy came out of nowhere. None of Wade’s contacts had any idea who the man was or where he could have come from. 

It took a few hours, but eventually Deathstroke had obtained all the information Paladin had collected on the Joker. No sooner had he finished than he left the broken, bleeding body of the other mercenary there as he continued his pursuit.

Wade dropped down and looked the man over. Apparently, Deathstroke had even taken and dismantled some of the man’s gear. He was so thorough. Thoroughly hot.

“Aren’t you a lucky one.” Wade traced the wounds with his fingers, “he touched you.” Deadpool then deeply inhaled the air around Paladin and sighed.

Paladin’s leg jerked and Deadpool reflexively knocked him over the head, “and stay down.” Wade scanned the warehouse to be sure no one noticed that freak out. Satisfied, he grabbed all the cash Paladin had on him and then slipped back out through the roof entrance he’d used earlier.

He headed home to get some sleep. Eager for visions of Deathstroke to dance in his head. He imagined Deathstroke in a santa-hat and grinned under his mask. “Bingo! New fantasy.” Wade needed some private time.


	4. Chapter 4

Harley had been recovering inside the panic room, not because anyone was afraid she might be attacked, but because it was the only free room in the apartment. Claire had been visiting to help make sure that Harleen kept her muscles moving and didn’t wither away. She kept the news channel on and watched as the Joker’s assault on the city continued. Not once did it seem like he was even looking for her 

When she was alone, typically at night, she would lie there and cry. What the fuck was she supposed to do? She was trapped in an alternate universe. She didn’t even have Bud and Lou there to comfort her. She’d been surviving on the kindness of strangers and nothing about that felt right to her.

Jessica had tried to ask her some questions over the last couple days, but so far had been giving Harley space until she felt better. Harley sensed that time was running out though. She was going to have to actually talk soon, but at the same time she didn’t want to betray the Joker. Some part of her still felt like he must care about her. He had to miss her. Right? Puddin?

As Harley woke up more, she heard the door to the apartment slam. She could make out voices, one she recognized, Jessica, and a male voice she didn’t.

“While this is weirdly convenient, I’m trying to figure out why YOU’RE looking for ME.” Jessica sounded somewhere between impressed and upset.

“Well, I know that Daredevil is on your team. To be honest, this all has to do with that jester that’s been all over the news.” The male voice sounded confident, but still hesitant.

“That guy. He’s been wrecking the whole town. We’ve stopped some of his lackeys, but we haven’t even seen the guy in person. He’s got a hard on for Fisk, that’s for sure.”

“Do you have any leads or info you can share.”

“Look, maybe, but you have to promise me that if I tell you. You take things slow.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“A friend found a woman who seems to be connected to the jester guy.”

“Dyed blonde hair, pigtails, black and red leather suit?”

“Yes, actually. Let me guess, the Avengers have some kind of super big brother that constantly watches everything?”

“Quite the contrary,” an overly properly male voice spoke up, “I’m not allowed to observe any surveillance that’s not publicly accessible.”

“That is not less disturbing.” Jessica sounded appalled.

“Sorry, he’s more independent than I realized.” the first male voice spoke again.

“Mr. Rogers, perhaps we should find out where the blonde woman is.” The prim and proper voice.

“Seriously?” Jessica sounded rather sarcastic.

“Uh, yeah.” The man seemed at a loss.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve sat in the only chair in the small space. He looked over the poor woman that lay there. Her wounds seemed like they might be near healing, but she seemed kind of sickly at the same time. Jessica told him that the blonde woman hadn’t really moved much since Claire had found her. 

“Mr. Rogers, I can scan her vitals if you’d like.” Jarvis spoke from his pocket.

“Uh, ok. Do you need me to move you anywhere?” 

“Just point my screen at her please”

Steve pulled out the small black device and pointed it at the blonde woman.

Only a moment passed before, “scan complete. Her wounds at this time seem only superficial. Remaining symptoms indicate that she is suffering from withdrawal. Source substance doesn’t appear to align with any know drugs. Closest comparison is long term exposure to The Purple Man. This may indicate that she has been long addicted to specific pheromones.”

The blonde gasped and cringed. 

“Ah, yes, and she’s awake.” Jarvis added.

“Jarvis, can you do that thing where you stop talking now?” Steve started putting the black device back into his pocket.

“Entering silent mode.”

Steve took a deep breath. He let the silence punctuate the room as he tried to think of where to start. He had no idea the woman lying in from of him was struggling with the possibility that she’d been manipulated in a much more serious way than she’d originally thought. 

It hadn’t just been mind games for the Joker, she’d known about those, but to find out he’d been poisoning not just her mind, but heart too. It was too much for her. She struggled to hold back tears. That struggle ended quickly and the tears started flowing. Silent, shaking sobs consumed her.

If Steve had been having trouble finding words before, right then he totally lost them. Without really thinking about it, he reached out and grabbed one of her hands. When he did, the silent sobs turned into deep wailing heaves. He started to pull his hand away, but she grabbed it even harder. 

The door opened revealing a very angry looking Jessica. After she got a moment to take in the scene, she mouthed a silent apology and carefully closed the door again. Harley cried for what felt like hours, before she ran out of steam and slipped back into sleep.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His smile was hidden behind his mask. Deadpool watched as the trap was set. He’d already watched Deathstroke stalk and analyze his target. Watched as Deathstroke dropped hints and clues that the Joker might show up in this dark alley, set up an ambush on the best angle of approach, and waited for his “fly”. Here came Bullseye to trigger it.

The take down was so smooth and fluid that it gave Wade a hardon. Slade just slipped out of the shadows and didn’t even give the sharpshooter a chance to fire a shot or throw a weapon. A subtle pop as Deathstroke knocked his target’s arms out of their sockets and swiftly bound and hung the man upside down. The whole thing took maybe a minute. 

“You’re the one they call Bullseye.” Slade wasn’t asking, “Your contract on the Joker is over. If you want to retain full use of your limbs I suggest you pack up and go home.”

“Who the fuck are you?” When Bullseye spoke, Deadpool thought he saw something in his mouth.

“I’m the man that’s going to kill the Joker. I suggest you do as you’re told. This is your last chance.”

“Ok, ok. Fine.” There it was again. Deadpool remembered something he’d heard about and rushed to the pair.

Slade notched the tip of his sword between some of the rope he’d used to hang the other hired gun. It was then that Bullseye went for his move. He’d dislodged a fake tooth and was spitting at Deathstroke’s remaining eye. Just as the tooth left his mouth Deadpool slammed into Deathstroke, knocking him aside and taking the fake tooth directly to the throat where it ripped his flesh apart and open. Blood spattered out and blinded Bullseye.

Slade got back to his feet, cracked the back of his second sword across the marksman’s head and knocked him out cold. He looked down at the gurgling, grasping Deadpool, let out a sigh, and said two words, “Thank you”

As Deadpool’s throat stitched back together, Slade searched inside Bullseye’s mouth for any other fake teeth that might be in there. He removed five teeth, only two of which ended up being fake. He shrugged and tossed them aside.

Slade tensed as Deadpool leaned on his shoulder and almost too happily returned a, “You’re welcome.” Wade looked the other man over and wondered if he might say or do more, but was given nothing but stoic silence.

“So, what’s next?” Deadpool was too curious to contain himself.

“This” Deathstroke took his sword and took a few clean swift strikes at the unconscious man hanging in front of them. Deadpool tilted his head, clearly confused. He could tell Deathstroke hadn’t killed Bullseye, but it wasn’t clear what had just happened.

“Huh? What’s ‘this’?”

Slade cut the supporting rope and watched Bullseye drop the the ground, “I severed several major tendons. I doubt they’ll ever heal properly, but he’s not a problem if he can’t throw or shoot for the next few days.”

“That is just deliciously dark and vindictive.”

“If you say so.”

Deathstroke began walking away, he paused for a moment to look back at the motionless Deadpool, “Are you coming?”

“Oh my god, yes. And I’ll be right there.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jessica was taking a walk. She’d overheard what had happened to Harley and couldn’t think straight. Her own experiences with manipulation had been extreme. She wasn’t sure if it was the same as what Harley had been through, so she pinned most of her hopes on it being a far less intense experience. Regardless, while the jester hadn’t really been affecting her personally, she was currently planning out ways to ruin his life. Most of those ways just involved different types of punches.

She smiled thinking about the wet mess of flesh she could make that stupid grin of his. Then she remembered Cap was looking for this guy too and there was no way that stupid boy scout was going to let her do that. Stupid morals. She still wanted to help Harley.

The girl definitely had good fashion sense. Everything she was wearing when Claire found her was leather. Everything. They’d borrowed some clothes from Trish so she’d have something clean and comfortable while she recuperated. Jessica made sure those leather duds were properly taken care of though. 

Jessica guessed Harley knew her way around a fight. The girl definitely wasn’t new to the super hero scene, you don’t make a costume like that just for fun. Once they started looking for this jester guy they’d find out though. Harley really was their best bet for tracking the guy down. Even if he’d been secretive, the fact that she’d been so physically close all the time meant she had to know at least a few things that could lead them to him.

Tracking him down wasn’t going to be easy. The cops had so far had zero luck. And you don’t mess with someone like Wilson Fisk and stick around without some level of skill or talent. Her contact at the police department had slipped her some files on the torture scenes the clown had been leaving behind and they put a shiver down even Jessica’s spine. The guy needed to be stopped.

She was hopeful though, with Cap and inside info from Harley she figured the three of them could probably handle this. She’d have to see if Harley was any more open now that the do-gooder Avenger had spent some time with her. They’d seemed pretty cosy when she walked in on them earlier.


	5. Chapter 5

Harley had been sitting up for a while now. Steve had encouraged her to walk a bit more. He’d even gotten her a tablet so that she could read up on the world she was now in. She had to resist the urge to google information on The Joker and what he was doing. She took some time to learn more about Captain America and ended up reading on the Avengers. They had saved the world from an alien invasion not too long ago.

She couldn’t help but compare him to Superman. Maybe his powers weren’t the same, but he was always doing the right thing. Even one of his friends reminded her of the superheroes she and The Joker had clashed with. The Iron Man was basically Batman, rich guy in a suit and a little bit of a cocky douche as well. It didn’t seem like the two worlds were that different when it came to the basics of how the world works though.

She derailed on a trail of animal pictures and memes. Found the cutest species of spiders she’d ever seen. Poked through some hyena photos, before she started worrying about who was taking care of Lou and Bud. She shook her head and set the tablet down. She got up and spent a few minutes slowly stretching how Claire had shown her.

She lifted her shirt and checked out the skin underneath. Jessica knocked then, her single finger tap resounding like a fist, before she stepped into the small room, “Oh, shit,” Jessica paused for a minute, “I should probably start asking before I come in.” She tilted her head a bit looking at the skin Harley had exposed, “Well, that looks way better.”

“Yeah, been awhile since it’s been all healed up.” Harley’s voice wasn’t its perky self just yet. Hell, she was taking a big step in just being more conversational.

Jessica silently nodded, trying to think of something to talk about instead of the million questions she had about Harley’s abuser, “So,” she found something to latch onto in the tablet that lay on the bed, “how’s the internet?”

“You guys have just as many memes and clickbait as we do.”

Jessica had been asking about the quality of the connection, she hadn’t been able to process that Steve said Harley was from another dimension. She seemed so normal, or at least what Jessica saw as normal, which probably wasn’t. “Oh, well. Good to know. Thought you might want some more solid food since you’ve been moving around a bit more.” Jessica tossed a bag of food on the side table by the bed and pulled up a chair, “Mind if I eat with you?”

Harley really seemed to think about it before answering, “No.”

Jessica pulled a chair over and started rifling through the bag. She pulled out a couple of wrapped up sandwiches and gave one to each of them. She rolled the edges of the bag down and Harley saw why the bag looked so greasy. It was filled with fries. “Hope you’re ok with sharing.”

Harley looked down at the sandwich, it’s red meat and dark bread smelled great. The fries too. She’d been eating soup, jello, and pudding for what felt like an eternity. The two shared a silent, but pleasant meal as Harley tried to pace herself. Jessica had gotten more conversation out of her today than the entire time she’d been here, so she wasn’t going to push that envelope just yet.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deathstroke looked around at the dingy apartment. It wasn’t at all what he was expecting when Deadpool said that he could stay with him. The place was pretty tiny, really. It didn’t matter though, it was just somewhere to sleep between hunting down his target. He’d already learned how to tune out the constant chatter from his host.

He’d spread out the intel he’d stolen from the other mercenaries hired by The Joker’s new enemy Wilson Fisk. The fact that he still didn’t know how to leave lingered in the back of his mind, but he decided to focus on the thing he could do something about instead. He traced some new connections and updated some figures on henchmen and hideouts. The Joker’s ability to create a network of thieves and thugs was not to be underestimated. At the current rate it wouldn’t be long before he pushed out Fisk.

Maybe he could use that to his advantage. He knew Deadpool had a contract from Fisk. Maybe he could get the other mercenary to push Fisk for more resources as the kingpin got desperate. He figured he might as well use Deadpool’s strange school girl crush to his advantage. It’s not like he could keep the guy away from him, he’d definitely tried. Deadpool had told him that he literally couldn’t die and after what he’d seen already, he believed him.

Deathstroke planned out a few two-pronged assaults on several of the hideouts they’d uncovered, but after a few hours of this he finally needed some sleep. Deadpool was already snoring on the couch while the TV played some older looking cartoons. He sighed and headed toward the bedroom Wade had shown him earlier. The bed wasn’t great, but it was better than the floor.

Deathstroke took off his suit and gear, folding and keeping it all together in a nice pile on a corner of the small table in the room. Slade pushed aside the oddly stiff stuffed unicorn on the bed and stretched out on the bed. His exhaustion took over and he passed out.

Later in the night he woke up as the bed shook a little. It took him a second, but he realized that he wasn’t alone anymore. Realizing it was Deadpool that had crawled into the bed next to him, he suppressed the instinct to literally murder him. He contemplated a couple ways to hurt him, but gave up after realizing that all of it would just turn Wade on, “Fuck it,” Slade’s words wafted into the night as the two mercenaries fell back asleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve smiled as he stood on the corner waiting for the walk sign to light up. Harley had started to open up a bit and it was exactly what they needed. He had been helping her regain her strength and was surprised at just how tough she was. She was pretty too, she’d caught him off guard a couple times because he was distracted by just how blue her eyes were. Just now, he’d gotten lost in thought thinking about them. The crowd around him was basically pushing around and past him due to the now lit crosswalk sign.

He started to move with them, caught the scent of a hot dog cart and his stomach flipped. It had been a while since he’d eaten. Actually, it had almost been a full day. He was so engrossed in taking care of Harley, that he’d forgotten to take care of himself. He didn’t want a hot dog though. Some shawarma would definitely hit the spot right now.

As he changed direction towards his favorite grilled meat spot, he thought about the next steps. Would Harley really be willing to help them stop the jester, or as she called him, the Joker? She definitely had a rage about her when he came up. A fire behind those blue eyes. Thankfully, Jessica had been helping her direct that rage and tried to prepare her for what it was going to be like to be around him again. Her experience with Killgrave was invaluable. And Claire mostly stepped in to prevent either of them from going too far with Harley.

Harley had clearly taken her fair share of abuse. Steve wasn’t about to heap any more on her. He’d found himself being pretty protective of her. Of course, as Captain America he liked to protect people, but there was something different about Harley. She’d been willing to show him her vulnerable side and he didn’t want to let her down.

“Steve, sir,” Jarvis spoke from his pocket.

“What’s going on Jarvis?”

“I’ve completed the secondary analysis you requested with the data from Dr. Quinzel. I have also had the information printed and you should expect a delivery by courier within the hour.”

“Thanks Jarvis.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Steve figured he had the time to pick up his food, get back to Trish’s apartment and meet the courier. It was going to be helpful to plan out their approach to stopping the Joker. He had tried to use Jarvis’s holographic interface, but he just couldn’t get the hang of it.

Jarvis had collected a list of possible hideouts and locations that might be used by that hideous clown. His death toll had been rising. And even though it was mostly Fisk’s people that had lost their lives to his insanity, he needed to be stopped. Steve believed the three of them could do it. Between his access to the Avenger’s resources, Jessica’s skills as a private investigator, and Harley’s inside knowledge they could bring the Joker to justice.

Steve couldn’t wait to see him behind bars.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His meaty fist slammed into the top of his desk, leaving a massive splintering crack and scattering keyboard keys throughout the room, “Another one?!” Kingpin’s voice boomed at the cowering assistant, “did you bring me any good news at all?”

“I’m sorry, sir,” the young man was very near pissing himself in that moment, “There’s only one left.”

“What? Who?”

The assistant clearly didn’t want to answer this question, “Deadpool...” he wrapped his arms around him trying to protect himself from an assault he was sure would be coming. He wasn’t wrong about the assault, but he was thankfully wrong about where it would be directed. He peaked after hearing the sound an effort induced grunt and shattering glass.

Fisk wasn’t entirely satisfied by the shattered glass from the half of the keyboard he had launched across the room, but he’d already gone through four assistants this month and wasn’t sure he could find another replacement. Someone needed to stop the fucking clown that had been prying the Kingpin’s grip off of the city and Kingpin wasn’t ready to step into the ring himself. He might be strong and tough, but if he let the jester make a fool of him, he would lose his grasp on the city completely.

“Sir?” The young man was visibly shaking, wracked with worry about his boss’s moment lost in thought.

“Find him!” Fisk brushed the other half of the keyboard off of the broken desk. He waited for the clatter of plastic on marble to finish, “Now!” The growl set the young man in motion, who almost fell over himself on his way out of the room. 

After the doors closed behind his assistant, he stood and paced the room for a bit, he had already lost a lot of money on this. Not just the investment in mercenaries, but also in destroyed property and associates that had started turning to the jester for their needs.

This was his city. His. No fucking clown was about to take it from him He was ready to invest now, whatever resources Deadpool needed, he was going to have. Fisk couldn’t believe he was even thinking it, but Wade was his last hope now. Kingpin just hoped that putting his faith in one joker would be able to stop another one.


	6. Chapter 6

Jessica had taken the materials Steve provided and set up the center of Trish’s apartment as a situation room. Almost an entire wall had been taken up by photos, locations and notes they had pieced together from Jarvis’s research on the history of events since the Joker had arrived in Hell’s Kitchen. Right now Harley was scanning the wall and selecting some points of interest for them.

“Yeah, he could be here,” Harley’s voice rang out as she circled a the photograph of a dentist’s office, “hard to say no to a little laughing gas.” She chuckled for a moment before visibly catching herself. Her expression twisting into one of disgust in that moment.

Steve frowned a bit at the reaction. He’d seen Harley have these moments too often already. Watched as memories she had once thought pleasant became tainted by the new knowledge she had. Steve hated it, because he couldn’t protect her from that. There was no way for him to reach into the past and make it all better.

“Mr. Rogers, if you apply any more pressure to this casing I’m afraid you’ll disable it.” Jarvis’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Cap decided it best to rest the device on a nearby table. Harley hadn’t seemed to notice, but Jessica had. The PI glared at him with a cocked eyebrow, before shaking her head with a sigh. 

They returned their attention to Harley, who’d been diligently crossing out and circling locations. She had paused on one, marker hovering. Looked like an old toy factory, “Nah! Too cheesy. Even for him.” The masculine pronoun came out as a short angry grunt.

“Are you sure?” Jessica spoke up, “Seems to fall into pattern with the rest.” She scanned over what Harley had marked so far.

Harley paused again, “Definitely,” she punctuated her answer with an x across the photo.

Steve looked over Harley, after all the time they’d spent together he still didn’t feel like he could trust his instincts around her. There didn’t seem to be a ‘normal’ Harley. She always felt a bit off. So even when he thought maybe he should take note of something, he dismissed it. 

He let himself get distracted watching her mark more locations. It had been a while since he’d connected with someone. He thought that might have happened with Harley, but that strange disjointed feeling seemed to keep things just out of reach. He set there on the couch admiring the curves of Harleen’s leather suit and the momentary bursts of excitement when she circled a possible hideout.

“Poor thing,” Jessica broke him out of his trance. She made sure to lock eye contact with him. Her expression said he didn’t know what he was getting himself into. Maybe she was right, but he didn’t care. He looked back over to Harley and nodded to himself.

“All done!” Harley wrapped up her pass over the locations with a little celebratory dance. This time it was Steve who grinned.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve caught his shield after it ricocheted off the back of one of the Joker’s minions. Gunshots rang out through the warehouse, but the henchmen had gone into retreat. They had slipped in easily enough, but had accidentally set off an alarm trying to disable the power. 

Steve spotted the gun at the last second. One of the clown’s men clearly felt more bold than he should have. Steve’s arm moved on instinct as the flash left the muzzle of the gun. His flew out and lodged into the side of a crate, protecting Harley from the three round burst. 

Jessica turned her attention to this fearless underling, slamming him up against a wall and inspiring the very thing he seemed to lack. She locked him there with one arm, ignoring the cracks of his bones. When the pain of his predicament finally hit him, his wicked grin turned to sheer terror.

After this, the warehouse seemed strangely quiet. The distant sound of vehicle doors slamming and engines trailing off into the distance confirmed the group’s suspicions. They had run off the crew that had been here. There hadn’t been any sign of the Joker’s actual presence, but at this point, even if he had been here he would have escaped with the rest of them. 

Steve walked over to retrieve his shield. After prying it out of the crate, he received a sudden hug from Harley, “You saved me!” Others might have seen her voice as shrill, maybe even annoying, but it just reminded Cap of his past. It was yet another thing he appreciated about her, “My hero!”

Harley kissed his cheek and in that moment he was thankful that he was wearing his mask. He was definitely blushing underneath. He was so flustered he didn’t even think to hug Harley back before she pulled away from him and went over to join Jessica.

“You tried to kill me!” Harley angrily punched the henchman across the face.

“Woah, woah, woah. Let’s calm down a bit here.” Cap joined the two women.

“I don’t know, she has a point,” Jessica seemed to lean into the minion a bit harder, the sound of another bone cracking confirmed that was the case.

Steve kicked away the gun that had fallen to the floor when the man had been slammed against the wall, “If you break him now, he’ll never talk.”

“Not sure I care,” Harley looked over the large mallet in her hands.

“I agree with the Doctor, Cap. This guy is asking for it.” Jessica sneered.

Steve placed a hand on the PI’s shoulder, “Let’s give him a chance at least.”

“Yeah, yeah. Give me a chance,” the man’s eyes were wide, “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you anything you wanna know!”

Jessica’s grip loosened and it was easy to see the severe bruises she’d given him. She turned expectantly to Steve giving another signature eyebrow raise.

“Where’s the Joker?” Steve began the interrogation.

“I-- I don’t know. We don’t really see him.”

Harley started to lift her hammer and he spoke again quickly, “No! No really! He really never shows! Ask me anything else!,” he eyes on Harley’s hammer, certain a stain on it was blood,”Seriously! Ask me!”

“What were you doing in this warehouse?”

“We were clearing out Fisk’s inventory. Joker says Kingpin’s nothing without his money.”

“Why is he going after Kingpin?”

“Grudge? Spite? He fucked his girlfriend? I dunno, but it’s all we ever hear about. Every job I ever did for Joker has been to take Kingpin down a notch. Clown’s got a real hardon for ‘im.”

Steve saw thought on Harley’s face, “Fisk?” the high pitch of her voice emphasizing the question.

“Yeah,” Steve explained, “Wilson Fisk, known as Kingpin in less savory circles. Jarvis said he seemed to be connected to a lot of crime in the city, but the police could never pin him down.”

“Wilson Fisk...” Harley mulled the name over.

Steve turned back to the henchman, “Got anything else useful to share?”

“Word on the street is Kingpin keeps hiring mercs to take the clown down, but someone keeps taking them down before they can.”

“Who keeps taking them down?” Steve thought he saw a moment of recognition in Harley’s eyes, but passed it off as a part of her usually cryptic nature.

“I don’t know man!” Jessica reapplied some pressure, “Really! I don’t know! No one knows!”

“That it?” Jessica glared up at the man.

“I got nothin’ else”

With a loud thud, Jessica knocked him out leaving him crumpled on the floor. “Looks like if we can figure out more about the Kingpin, we can figure out where the Joker will strike next.”

“Looks like” Cap asked Jarvis to report the location to the cops before the group headed back to their makeshift headquarters in Trish’s apartment.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harley felt good after the warehouse raid. Getting to actually get out of that apartment and stretch her legs felt good. Unfortunately they didn’t really get any new info. The thug they’d captured could only tell them what Steve and Jarvis had figured out ages ago. Well, everything but the part about mercenaries being hired to kill Joker. She wasn’t sure what to make of that. 

She wasn’t surprised though. Before they’d ended up in this universe, Deathstroke had been saying he was hired to do the same thing. Joker was really good at pissing people off. He’d basically turned into an art form. Harley could annoy people, but he really got under people’s skin. She almost missed the way he’d brought out the rage in Batman.

All this thinking on her past had her wondering something that surprisingly hadn’t come to mind until now. Could she get back? Did she want to? She wasn’t so sure. She finally felt like she had some real friends. Sometimes she thought she caught Steve looking at her, but he seemed so innocent, she just couldn’t believe that he saw her that way. 

She kind of wished he did though. He actually seemed to care about her. Hell, he’d quite literally saved her back at the warehouse. Joker would have paid to have the bullet holes sewn up, but he would never have tried to prevent harm. Harley’s mind wandered to mental snapshots of Steve in his uniform. Tight in all the right places. Mmhmm.

She shook her head out of those thoughts. There was no way that Steve was interested in her. She could never tell him about her past, there’s no way he’d accept someone who did as many awful things as she had. Sure, some of them were influenced by the Joker, but she knew some of them were because she truly enjoyed them.That and she’d already lied to him. A boy scout like him wasn’t about to accept the damaged goods she offered.

To take her mind off Steve she brought herself back to one of her previous questions: Could she get back? She thought back to what had caused this whole mess in the first place. The gemstone from the museum, what had it been called? The Tear... the Tear of... the Tear of Tir! There were a lot of similarities to her universe, maybe she could locate the gemstone here. She wasn’t sure what she’d do with it, but it was something for Harley to do while Jessica and Steve researched this Kingpin guy.

She snatched up the tablet and started with an internet search. Interestingly, it didn’t take her long to find more information on it. She had to do a lot of other searches to understand the information she did find though. She didn’t recognize the names of any places or people. She did eventually find a lead to follow.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m not giving you a fucking tank!” Kingpin slammed his fist down on his desk.

“I thought you actually wanted me to kill this clown?” Deadpool steepled his fingers.

“Yes, the clown. Not half the city!”

“Are you sure? I mean, it would only be a little collateral damage. Like, a tiny bit. You wouldn’t even notice.”

Kingpin seemed to actually consider it for a moment, before he literally shook the thought from his head, “No! Fuck no!”

“Rocket launcher?” 

“Wade, I’m not giving you explosives.” Kingpin just shook his head dismissively.

“Fine, then here’s a list of what I’m going to need.” Deadpool pulled a manilla folder out of his suit and slid it onto the desk. It was only a little sweaty.

Kingpin took a pen and used it to open the file, looking over the list of supplies, “This I can do. Well, we’ll see about the plastic explosives.”

“We-- I really do need those though.” 

“Fine, but you damage my property and I’m taking it out of your fee.”

“Deal.” Deadpool grinned under his mask, Deathstroke was going to be happy. After Wade had gotten the call to meet with Kingpin about increased backing, Slade had made him a list of things to ask for. It was pretty extensive and exacting. Deadpool wasn’t really sure what all of it was for, but he was excited to watch Deathstroke work. 

“So, gonna get started?” Kingpin raised his eyebrows at Deadpool.

“Oh, yeah. I expect I’ll get a call for the drop location?”

“Yes, now get out. And don’t leave through the front door. You know that pisses me off.”

“That’s why I do it.” Deadpool winked at Fisk and sauntered out of the office. As he reached the door he heard Fisk asking his secretary to send in his four o’clock appointment. Wade was so concerned with delivering the good news to Deathstroke that he didn’t even think to annoy the next person going into the office. She did look cute in that outfit though.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve smiled, Harley seemed a lot less listless that she’d been so far. He could feel a positive energy from her that he hadn’t felt, well, ever. He and Jessica had gotten information on the few remaining properties that Fisk held a financial interest in. They set up some plans for stakeouts on the places that seemed the most important. Tonight they were going to split up and Steve was honestly kind of sad about that.

He’d caught himself thinking about Harley more and more as they spent time together. He couldn’t believe she’d been associated with this Joker guy. She was way too smart and he saw a sweetness about her. The Joker had manipulated her in multiple ways. That was a fact. Steve really wanted his feelings about her to be true. He believed in Harley.

He’d been surprised by Jessica’s resourcefulness as well. She was definitely stronger than he was too. She’d been a really great team member during this mission and Steve was resolved to take more notice of the “street-level” heroes, as Jarvis had classified them. He really wanted to meet the rest of her associates, but he figured that could wait until after this mission was finished.

Harley though, he wasn’t really sure how to classify her. She clearly had combat skills, but she definitely had a strategic wit about her as well. Steve enjoyed watching her shine as she planned out the raid they had done. Her inside knowledge was helpful, but she was really in her element when creating a plan of action. Plus, it gave him an opportunity to stand back and admire her.

She’d been through so much, but was still standing strong. Definitely admirable. He was really concerned for her future though. As far as this world was concerned, she didn’t exist. He wasn’t sure what kind of strings he could ask S.H.I.E.L.D. to pull for him in that regard, but now that she was here he wanted to help her get settled after this mission. Her going back to where she came from didn’t even cross Steve’s mind.

He’d gotten her to open up a bit more. He learned about her pet hyenas and her friend Red. He felt really sorry that she wasn’t going to see them again. She’d also talked in small bits about her relationship with the Joker. Steve really wanted to punch that guy. Every time she said his name it made him clench his fist. Harley deserved better and hearing about the ways she’d been mistreated just made him more eager to catch this guy.

He was a little sad that they wouldn’t be able to do the stakeout together, but Harley had agreed to let him take her on a tour of Avengers Tower. He was eager to show her parts of his life and share stuff from his past. He really knew what it felt like to be out of place in the world and was glad to find a kindred spirit in that regard. Honestly, every moment he could get with Harley he’d take.

Part of him felt like he was getting too close to her, but the other part of him was sure he didn’t care. Soon enough he’d have plenty of time to spend with her. At least, if she’d let him. He could feel, even though she’d been a bit more open, that she was still keeping him at arm’s length. He wanted her to trust him, but he knew that trust in particular was going to be hard for her. To that end, Steve had resolved never to question her and to always give her space when it felt like she was trying to create some.

It sucked, but it was the right thing to do. He wondered if she knew how he felt about her. How exactly did he feel about her? This felt like more than a friendship. Could it be more than a friendship? Steve wasn’t sure, but was willing to find out. At Harley’s pace, of course. 

Darn.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jessica kicked back. She was watching one of the locations that she and Steve had researched. Dinner sat cold in a bag on the passenger seat next to her. She could sense they were close to a confrontation. At least once this was done she wouldn’t have to see Cap and Harley try to avoid being seen watching the other. 

Ugh, those two were so sappy for eachother. Of course, they clearly had no idea, but Jessica wasn’t about to get involved in someone else’s romantic life. They could figure it out. At the same time though, there was something off about Harley lately. She felt like she was holding back on them. And then today with just how happy she seemed to be in general. Clearly, she wasn’t sharing with the class.

They needed her though. Jessica had a knack for investigation, but execution had been entirely on Harley. You wouldn’t think from her fashion choices, but the woman was a genius, literally. Strategy was definitely a strong suit for her and Jessica was glad, because she certainly had no interest in planning raids. Harley said she was just thinking about how she would catch herself if she had to. Jess definitely couldn’t argue with that mentality, it was working for them so far.

Jessica was startled by a knock on the car window. She was upset with herself for getting so deep into her own thoughts. It took her a minute to realize who had knocked. She rolled down the window, “Harley? What are you doing here? Did something happen?”

“No,” Harley bit her lip for a moment, “And I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Jessica was clearly confused.

Harley sprayed Jessica’s face with a diffuser. A mixture of her own design, strong enough to knock out an elephant. “I’m really really sorry.”

“What is this?” Jessica tried rubbing the spray off her face, “What did you d--” Jessica’s head dropped straight down. Harley caught it just before it could slam on the car horn.

Harley opened the car door slid Jessica over into the passenger seat with the sad cold fast food bag. She slipped into the driver’s seat and moved the car out of view. Before reclining Jessica, putting the keys in the P.I.s pocket and locking the terrifying strong woman in the car.

“She is gonna be so mad.” Harley whispered to herself.

Harley realized that Mr. J must have found out the same info that she had, but had decided on a different tact when it came to acting on it. She couldn’t risk being caught by Jessica sneaking into Fisk’s place, not could she tip off anyone as to why she was there. She had to disable Jessica and just hoped that she’d be knocked out long enough for her to get in and get out.

The whole time in the back of her head she knew Steve was going to be disappointed in her too. She was sure that she was breaking his trust, but she also felt that if she let him know what she was planning to do, he wouldn’t let her. Well, maybe he’d let her, but he wouldn’t want her to. She’d rather disappoint him and him find out later than be responsible for him being sad in any way.

“Let’s get this over with...” another whisper lost into the night.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slade liked the sound of wind on a rooftop. He felt at home there. The new intel and supplies that the Kingpin had provided them with turned out to be surprisingly useful. He hated to admit it, but Deadpool had been surprisingly useful. He hoped this last contact wouldn’t disappoint him.

Kingpin said Wade could meet the contact here, so the pair waited. Apparently, this contact had a location guaranteed to be the Joker’s hideout. Slade was ready to finally confront the Joker again. He was ready to take him down. He’d figure out how to get home once he had that stupid clown taken care of. Right now, capturing the newly minted crime boss needed his laser focus.

The door to the roof opened and Slade tensed. Deadpool greeted the contact, “Hey, oh, it’s you.”

“I like the colors,” A somewhat shrill female voice spoke but she only gave Deadpool a passing glance, “Deathy! You here?”

Slade recognized that voice and when the light hit her he knew why, “Harley,” Deathstroke paused “Am I supposed to believe that you’re trying to take down the Joker?” He slowly drew a sword.

“Calm down Deathy, I come in peace,” Harley raised her hands in the air, “Besides, the Joker has fucked us both over enough, don’t you think?” The bitterness in Harley’s voice sent a shiver down Slade’s spine. This wasn’t the quirky fun Harley he’d seen in the past, he could hear the agenda in her voice.

“Well well, finally able to see the real clown?” Slade was closer to trusting her, but still didn’t sheathe his sword.

“Yeah, and someone needs to take care of him. That’s where you come in.” 

Deadpool looked back and forth between the two of them. Definitely felt like a third wheel here and he didn’t like it. “So, give us our target and we’ll take it from here.” Wade said with too much glee as he stepped towards Deathstroke.

“You’re taking me with you.” Harley demanded.

“The hell we are, Quinn. I trust you near the clown about as much as I hate money.” Deathstroke tightened his grip on the blade.

“How do you just keep getting sexier?” Deadpool had a noticeable hardon. “I love hearing how much you love money.”

The other two seemed to ignore him as Harley pressed her case, “You need me to find him. I’ll guide you there but I wanna watch at least.”

“I’m willing to share if you wanna do more than watch,” Deadpool was still being ignored even though he’d looped an arm around Deathstroke’s waist.

“Fine, but that’s all you do.” Slade put away his sword, “And you better not complain if I take can take him alive.”

“Whatever, you just make sure I get a chance to let him know he lost his little empire here ‘cause of me.” Harley was more serious than Slade had ever seen her. Ever.

Slade took a moment to look her up and down. If this was a trap, it was a good one. And even if it was, it would bring him closer to the Joker. “Done.”

Harley relaxed a bit and brought her hands down, “Hrmm, you two make quite the couple.” She looked at the two bi-color costumed mercenaries.

“Aww, thanks!” Deadpool was too excited about that comment, in fact his excitement was still poking out into the air for anyone to see.

“Don’t encourage him.” Slade glanced from Deadpool to Harley, “Lead the way.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jarvis broke the silence, “Mr. Rogers, putting Ms. Jones through.” 

Before Steve could confirm acceptance, Jessica’s voice screamed through the speaker, “She fucking knocked me out!” She took a heavy breath, “Can you hear me? That bitch fucking knocked me out!”

“Woah, woah,” Steve was hoping he could calm the P.I. down, “Who knocked you out?”

“Harley,” time froze when Jessica spoke. Steve’s mind went into overtime. Why would Harley knock Jessica out? Why would Harley have even been near Jessica tonight? They were supposed to stakeout different locations. This didn’t make sense. Time unfroze in his head with sound of what steve could only assume was something crumpling under Jessica’s strength, “She sprayed me with some shit and knocked me out.”

“Hey, are you still at your stakeout?”

“I think so,” there was a pause, “yeah, I guess, why?”

“I’m going to head your way and we’ll figure this out, ok?”

“Fine, this thing probably doesn’t drive anymore anyways.” Jessica’s statement confirming Steve’s suspicion that she’d done a good bit of destruction on her end.

With Jarvis’s guidance was able to meet up with Jessica in just a few minutes. She was standing outside her car. The nearby fence was warped and one of the concrete sidewalk tiles appeared to be shattered. Steve saw a bit blood glisten on Jessica’s knuckles in the light.

“Your girl’s gone off the deep end, Cap.” Jessica almost yelled at him.

“Hold on, I’m sure there’s an explanation for this,” Steve then processed exactly what she said, “My girl?” He tilted his head with the question.

“Yeah, my job is noticing things,” Jessica sneered, “Don’t think I haven’t seen you two ogling each other for the past week.”

Steve was confused for a minute, then he realized what that meant. He’d been looking at Harley, but she’d been looking at him too. He was happy for a minute and even let himself grin. Maybe she liked him too. Maybe.

“So? What is it then?” Jessica had stepped up to him.

“What’s what?”

“The explanation. Why would she want to knock me out and stash me away from the stakeout?”

“I don’t know,” Steve realized he hadn’t said enough when Jessica’s face started to become a sneer, “yet...” He thought quickly, “Jarvis!”

“Yes, sir?” The prim proper voice was too calm for Jessica.

“Can you locate Harley?”

“Yes, sir.” Steve pulled the black device out and held it up as images from city cameras rapidly flipped through on screen, “Found her, sir.” The device showed her get into a car as someone’s passenger.

“Jarvis, can you get a better view of the driver?” Jessica wasn’t screaming anymore at least. The scene changed angles and both Steve and Jessica seemed confused, “Is that Deadpool?”

“No,” Steve moved his head as if to look closer even though it wasn’t going to help him see the person any clearer, “That mask has only one eye.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Jessica seemed frustrated again.

“I’m sorry Ms. Jones, I have no idea.” Jarvis didn’t realize the question was rhetorical.

“Jarvis, did Harley do anything here after she knocked out Harley?” Steve asked, with a hopeful tone.

“Playing recorded footage.” On the screen it showed Harley stashing Jessica’s car away from the scene. It then followed her through a few different camera viewpoints as she slipped into the building. Jarvis fastwarded footage until it showed her coming out of the building. When she stepped into the light, she pulled out a gemstone and held it up to the light even in the poor quality of the camera they could see it shine with green and purple light. She then slipped away, “That’s the extent of local footage, sir.”

“What the heck was that?” Steve wondered aloud.

Jessica started to push Steve back towards his car, “We’re going to follow her and find out. Jarvis can you guide us to her?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jarvis’s screen became a display of a city map with two points and a zig-zagging line connecting them. One of the points was moving further from the other, clearly Harley and her companion.

“Drive Steve.” Steve wasn’t about to tell her no.


	8. Chapter 8

The pair parked and got out of the car. Nearby the car they’d been following had been ditched in an alley. “She lied to us,” Jessica was looking past Steve and when he turned and saw where they were he understood what Jessica meant. They were in front of the dilapidated toy factory Harley had insisted wasn’t where they’d find the jester.

Steve took in a sharp breath. He agreed, she’d definitely lied. Maybe she’d been trying to do good? Hopefully, she’d just been trying to keep them out of harm’s way? He had to believe she meant well. He didn’t want to entertain the thought of her having lied to them more than that. He wouldn’t.

“Are you coming or what?” Jessica had already put some significant distance between them. He was pretty sure she just planned to smash her way in. He was also pretty sure he couldn’t stop her. He took his shield off his back and followed her in.

What they found was open doors. As they pushed in, unconscious and, in a few cases, dead henchmen in shoddy clown suits were scattered through the place. The sound of an explosion drew them further inside. They ran to the source and found two men already fighting with the clown in what used to be factory floor.

To his credit, the Joker, seemed to be doing well fighting off his two assailants. Steve tried to make sense of the clown’s movements and motions and just couldn’t. It did seem like the two men were fighting with restraint, however.

“Motherfucker,” Jessica seemed in shock of the whole scene until a rage filled her, “The clown really is here!”

“But where’s Harley?” Steve’s words weren’t needed. Jessica was already scouting the room.

“Up there!” They could see Harley standing out of sight of the fight on a catwalk. She seemed to be waiting for something. Something that involved her mallet.

Steve gestured to some stairs that would take them up there. He and Jessica seemed to agree that getting to Harley was more important than injecting themselves into an already hectic combat with unknown alliances. “Let’s go!”

The pair rushed up. Harley didn’t seem to notice them at all, she was so focused on the melee below. Deathstroke and Deadpool were aggressive, but still restrained. With what they’d seen, Steve felt that if they were trying to kill the clown, he’d already be dead. What were they trying to do?

“Harley?” Steve’s urgent question seemed to shake her, she almost dropped her mallet.

“Steve? What are you doing here?” Harley seemed truly confused and something else, neither Steve nor Jessica could place it.

“What are we doing here? What are you doing here?” Steve’s voice betrayed his hurt feelings and then he realized Harley’s expression. Self-loathing.

“You better explain yourself, bitch.” Jessica didn’t seem to care.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d understand,” Harley frowned, but then cracked a defensive smile, “Did I ever tell you, you remind me of my friend Red sometimes?”

“I don’t care about your fucki--” Jessica was interrupted by Steve’s grip on her shoulder. He gave her a serious look and she actually stepped back.

“Harley, you could have included us.” Steve seemed sure he was right.

“No, I couldn’t. You don’t understand and I don’t have time to explain.” Harley’s eyes moved back to the combat, the mercenaries had pushed the clown to the middle of the room. “I’m sorry.” She grabbed hold of a rope next to her, hopped off the catwalk and descended into the fight.

Jessica lunged forward to grab the rope, but Steve used every ounce of his strength to pull her away long enough to let Harley go. He wasn’t sure if he should, but he still trusted Harley.

“The fuck, Rogers?” Jessica shook him off, but stood with him and watched the scene below.

When Harley hit the floor, her voice echoed through the building, “Puddin!”

Steve cringed. Harley sounded excited to see the jester. In that moment his heart broke. Had she been working for him the Joker whole time? Where had Steve gone wrong? He had just wanted to help her. But then, what did he really know about her? He was such an idiot.

“Harley?” the Joker spun around and looked at her with shock, “Is that you?”

Jessica watched Steve’s world crash down around him. The poor guy had no idea. Too trusting. I guess even Avengers had their weak spots. Steve’s was clearly his trust. What a shame.

Steve and Jessica watched as the two mercenaries capitalized on this opening. A flash of blades and the clown fell onto his back. They could see some bleeding from very specific cuts across important ligaments. He wasn’t going to be standing under his own power for a while.

“Yes it’s me, you piece of shit!” Harley still sounded excited.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” the Joker seemed genuinely glad, “Why don’t you give your puddin’ some help here?”

“Help?”

“Harley?” Joker was squinting at her face, “You’re not here to help at all are you?”

Harley didn’t answer with words, but with a cackling laugh. What little color was there drained from the Joker’s face as Harley raised her mallet. The Joker’s eyes darted from Deadpool to Deathstroke and then back to Harley, “Harls. Darlin’.” His words weren’t stopping her and the desperation in his voice increased, “Baby?” terror filled his ugly mug, “Pumpk--”

The sound of Harley’s mallet crunching into the side of his face, cut the Joker off. Harley went for another swing and Deathstroke stopped her, “You promised I could have him alive.”

“Fine.” Harley tossed the mallet across the factory.

Steve rushed down to Harley with Jessica right behind him. He was happy. Harley hadn’t turned on them. He couldn’t help himself and swept her up into a hug. Harley smiled as he did, but then her expression soured, “I’m sorry.”

Off to the side, Deadpool tried the same thing on Deathstroke and was met with a lukewarm response, “Isn’t this what we’re doing?” Deadpool didn’t let go. Slade slowly pushed him off.

“No, no, no,” Steve lifted Harley’s chin to look her in the eyes, “It’s ok.”

“I lied to you.” Harley turned away.

“She did,” Jessica glared and Steve gave her a look to let her know that this was clearly something they would talk about later.

“We need to go, Quinn” Deathstroke stepped in, Joker’s limp body over one shoulder with Deadpool clinging to the other one.

“Steve, I have to go. This isn’t done.” Harley’s words were distant. She clearly didn’t want to say them. She climbed down out of Steve’s lifted hug.

“I’m coming.” Steve was adamant.

“No, Steve you can’t.” Harley’s voice cracked

“Yes, I can. I’m here for you.” 

“Steve, please, don’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to have to say goodbye!” Harley kissed him on the cheek and pushed away.

“Quinn!” Slade demanded from the doorway.

“But...” Steve was paralyzed, literally. He fell and Jessica caught him as Harley ran off after Deathstroke and Deadpool.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jessica, rifled through Steve’s pockets until she found what she was looking for, “Jarvis, can you track those idiots?”

“I can, but I do believe they are all rather intelligent Ms. Jones”

“Just do it!” Jessica lugged Steve’s body out of the factory and loaded him into the car, ready to follow Jarvis’s instructions to catch up to Harley and her crew.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the drive Steve recovered from his paralysis. A little trick Harley had picked up from Pamela, or Red as Harley called her. He recovered faster than most, but that was to be expected. 

He was stuck with his own thoughts for most of the ride. Jessica wasn’t offering any conversation even though he desperately wished she would distract him. She’d lied to him, didn’t trust him, and then drugged him. He didn’t like it. He also didn’t like that he still cared about her.

Jessica finally broke the silence as he was regaining his ability to move, “So, I hope this is all worth it.”

Steve only offered a groggy, “huh?”

“All this chasing her around. Honestly, the clown’s dealt with, so our parts done.” Jessica aggressively took a turn, “I hate having friends.” She clearly still felt responsible for Harley and Steve.

Steve sat in silence for a while as Jessica broke almost every traffic law in the books trying to catch up to others. Eventually he muttered a soft, “Thank you...”

“Yeah, you’re fucking welcome.” Jessica squinted at the map Jarvis was projecting for them, “Fuck.”

“What?”

“You’re not gonna like where they stopped.”

Steve was trying to see if he could make sense of the map. He couldn’t, “Where is that?”

“The Chrysler Building,” Jessica explained further when it was clear Steve didn’t understand, “Kingpin’s”

Steve was completely confused. What was going on?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jessica stomped past the secretary, “You can pencil me in.” She knocked the door in with Steve right on her tail. To his credit, he apologized as he followed Jessica.

“Harley?!” Jessica demanded, “What. The. Fuck?”

“No, Steve, you need to leave!” Harley stepped behind Slade, hiding from Steve’s view.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Kingpin interjected, “I hope you’re not here for me.” Kingpin looked at Jessica and Steve.

Steve spoke up, “No, we’re here for Harley.”

“Ah, saying your goodbyes? Well, please be quick. I would like to hurry this up.”

“Goodbyes?” Steve looked around the room, trying to find a gaze that could help him understand what was going on.

“Steve,” Harley stepped out from behind Deathstroke, “I need to take him back to where he came from. Where I came from.”

Cap’s eyes watered a bit, “Harley?”

“I’m sorry, he’s got to go back. You and I both know it.”

A tear was forming, “Yeah... but I...”

“We had fun, but I can’t stay here. I don’t belong here.” Harley crossed to Steve and hugged him. She leaned up and whispered into his ear, “Thank you for caring about me.” then a rushed, “I love you.” before pulling away again.

The tear finally streaked down Cap’s cheek. His words were being choked down by his sadness. He didn’t want to see her go. She said she didn’t belong here, and maybe she didn’t, but Steve finally understood what he’d been feeling. They belonged together. He couldn’t say it though, his body was betraying him.

“Wait, someone explain this for me?” Jessica was still pissed off.

Fisk pulled out the stone Steve and Jessica had seen Harley with earlier. “This,” Kingpin gave everyone a moment to look at the shining gem, “is the Tear of Tir. It creates a dimensional portal. I thought those were just rumors, but apparently these three,” He took a moment to gesture to Joker, Quinn, and Slade, “came through from their dimension with the one on their end.”

“And?”

“Three in, three back.” Kingpin’s words were even, “That’s what the legends say anyways.”

“So, does it say it has to be the same three?” Jessica asked.

“Hrmm...” Fisk seemed deep in thought for a few moments, “Honestly, no. It doesn’t.”

Steve caught his breath in that moment of hope, “Harley, you can stay!” He walked over and took her hand in his, “Please stay?”

“Who’s gonna go then?” Harley asked, not really expecting an answer.

Just then the biggest girliest gasp cut through the moment. “Meeeeeeeeeee!” Deadpool shouted. “Deathy, we can be together!” His excitement made everyone else uncomfortable, except Slade who seemed unphased.

Harley cautiously, “R-Really?”

“Fuck yes! I love traveling through dimensions!” Deadpool was still far too excited.

This time it was Harley’s turn to cry, she walked over to Steve who held her in silence.

Fisk looked to Deathstroke for approval. Slade offered him a shrug of acceptance. Fisk walked across the room to an empty space, set down the gem, and hit the top of it without restraining his strength. Instead of cracking, the gem began to sparkle and Kingpin backed off.

The space around the gem began to distort and ripple until a sort of portal appeared. Deadpool grabbed one of Joker’s legs and ran into the portal giggling with Deathstroke right behind him. Once the three men had disappeared the ripples settled and all that was left was the gem sitting on the floor. 

After the men disappeared, Steve leaned down and whispered in Harley’s ear, “I love you too.”

Fisk carefully picked the Tear back up, “You can go now.” After no motion or response, “Seriously, have your little moment somewhere else.”

Steve laughed and lifted harley up into his arms, carrying her behind Jessica as they left. Jessica drove the two back to Avengers Tower per Steve’s request. She didn’t even complain when they both sat together in the back seat. She didn’t like chauffeuring, but tonight she was definitely making an exception. The two were too cute. And they’d been through enough tonight. 

Steve grinned for the rest of the night. He only saw a future for himself and Harley. This was going to be quite the story to tell the others when they got back. He offered Harley one of the guest rooms, but she insisted on staying with him. Honestly, he was glad she did.

Harley, fell asleep that night truly at peace. Someone actually cared about her. They weren’t stringing her along or pretending they needed her. She actually knew what love felt like. And it felt like hope.


End file.
